A bench of justices R F Nariman and Vineet Saharan ordered Ambani to pay Rs 453 crore to Ericsson within four weeks

The Supreme Court on February 20 held Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani guilty on three contempt applications filed by telecom equipment maker Ericsson for not clearing its dues.

The apex court said that Ambani 'willfully' did not pay nearly Rs 550 crore dues it owed to Ericsson. A bench of justices R F Nariman and Vineet Saharan ordered Reliance Communications to pay Rs 450 crore to Ericsson within four weeks, failing which Ambani would be sent to jail for three months, according to a report in CNBC-TV18.com.

The apex court also directed Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel to pay Rs 1 crore each in four weeks to the apex court's registry or the chairman will have to go additional jail term of one month, according to a PTI report. The court directed that Rs 118 crore already deposited by Reliance Group in the apex court's registry be disbursed to Ericsson.

Reliance Communications (RCom) had earlier told the court they had tried to move "heaven and earth" to ensure Ericsson gets its due but was unable to do so due to failure of assets sale deal with Reliance Jio.